


Willow

by Mickeydine



Category: Def Leppard
Genre: Alternate Universe - Car Racing, Drink up, Fluff and Humor, Lots of Sweating, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:08:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24685876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mickeydine/pseuds/Mickeydine
Summary: The Leps have gone racing! Friendships are formed along with something else *wink wink*
Relationships: Rick Allen/Joe Elliott (Def Leppard), Steve Clark/Phil Collen, Vivian Campbell/Rick Savage
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	1. Heating Up

**Author's Note:**

> I went racing I just got inspired and we know Vivian likes cars so...  
> You know the drill: I don't know them, this didn't happen, let's just have fun ^.^

The temperature on Vivian's thermometer in his truck read 95°. He could start to see the track appear out of the hazy smog on the mountain side, his grey Ferrari in tow behind him. "Almost there."

"Oh finally!" Phil woke up from his nap and exclaimed his excitement with a hint of sarcasm. 

Vivian turned his head, just a little, to shift between looking at Phil with an annoyed expression and to keep his eyes on the road, "we've only been driving for an hour and a half! We have gone much longer than that plenty of times, you wimp."

Vivian planned to take his Ferrari and do autocross, street racing, or whatever you want to call it and brought Phil, as an extra set of hands, with him.

"Yes, but at least then we weren't out in the middle of nowhere," Phil grumbled and turned his body to face out the window and more importantly to give Vivian the cold shoulder, "And it's damn hot, shit!"

Vivian rolled his eyes and focused back on the road. They are almost to their destination: Willow Springs International Raceway. The track was decently sized and in the middle of the desert. Ok maybe not completely in the middle. It was 15 to 20 minutes from the nearest towns, Lancaster and Palmdale, respectively. What Vivian found funny was that the shape of the track looked like if you flipped the United States across a y-axis so that if you were looking down on it, Florida would be at the bottom left. 

Vivian saw his exit and pulled off the highway. "Hey Phil what time is it?"

"Uh, almost noon."

"Perfect."

They rolled up to a stoplight next to a gas station and heads were already starting to turn. Vivian opened his mouth to tell Phil something, but he was cut off by the guy next to him, honking his approval for Viv's car. He waved and gave a thumbs up and Vivian did it back. He was used to getting these kinds of reactions and excitement about his Ferrari, but it still made him giddy and always put a big grin on his face. "Anyways, we're right by a grocery store, do you need anything?"

"A pool maybe."

"Mmm, I don't think they have that."

"Then no."

They both chuckled and continued down the road. After a few more minutes they saw the sign designating the track and turned in. They checked in at the gate, got their wristbands to be able to come in and out of the track, and were told they could park in a lot to the left. The lot is behind some stands, that have seen better days or just need more paint, and just behind turn 1, the start of the shape of Florida. The lot was pretty much empty aside from the few RV's and trailers of people who arrived before Vivian and Phil.

"Oof!" Phil pretty much fell out of the car from being in a sitting position for so long. He rubbed his knees and started stretching, "Ugh, time to unpack now?"

"Not quite. Let me go through tech inspection first and then we can unload." Vivian got out of the truck and opened the door to the back seat where the cooler was sitting and pulled out a couple of water bottles. He tossed one to Phil, "drink up mate. You definitely do not want to be dehydrated out here and the temperature is just gonna go up." This California heat is dry and you won't know if you didn't drink enough before it's too late. 

"Yes mum." 

Vivian rolled his eyes as he pulled his shirt over his head and pulled on his special fireproof suit and his race helmet, which was a little tough to fit his curly hair in. 

"There's a steady breeze at least, but do you really have to put on all that for an inspection on the car?"

"Sadly, yes. Rules are rules."

They separated the trailer from the truck and Vivian started up his car and rolled off the back of it, feeling antsy from the sound of the engine revving.

"Can I come?" Phil put on his puppy eyes and an innocent smile as he asked. Vivian has seen that face several times and had given into it at least half the time. 

"Well….yes and no. You can't be in the car with me, but you can drive the truck around to watch." 

"Mmm," Phil popped his hip and put a hand on it while the pointer finger of his other hand tapped his chin, "pass."

"Then you can stay here and start unloading I guess."

"Aye aye Captain," Phil saluted Vivian and then opened the bed of the truck and started taking the contents out. 

"Alright I'll be back in a bit." Vivian revved his engine again and sped off. 

There was a line at the inspection, Vivian was 6 cars back. Thank goodness it was moving along because the sun was angled into his side of the car. He was sweating, which he didn't really mind, but then it started to burn. Vivian was doing ok until he rolled up in his royal blue Camaro right behind him. Now it wasn't just his car that made Vivian jittery. He kept a straight face and adjusted his grip on his steering wheel with sweaty palms. Soon enough it was his turn.

Vivian rolled up to the designated spot for inspection as a few crew members filed out of the shop they were hiding from the sun in. One crew member with dirty blond-ish curly hair, and a lot of it, walked up to Vivian's window. As he got closer, Vivian noticed his blue eyes and how fair skinned he was, wondering how this man was going to survive this weekend without horrible sunburns.

"Let's check the lights." 

"....uh ya." Vivian snapped out of the stare he didn't know he was holding. The attractiveness of this crew member was going to be a thought saved for later.

The curly haired crew member stood in front of Vivian's car signaling what lights to flash while another crew member stood at the back of the car observing the back lights and checking off on a clipboard. Once they were done with the lights, the crew member in the back further checked the back of the car and the curly crew member walked up to Vivian's window. "That's a nice ride you have. Rick Savage by the way, but I go by Sav," he reached his hand through Vivian's window space. 

"Vivian Campbell, but I go by Viv," he took Sav's hand and shook it, a little restrained by the suit, "and thank you. I've put in a lot of work into it." 

"It looks good," Sav took a step back to get a better look at the car, and then he saw the Camaro. "Do you see who's behind you," he said with widening eyes. 

Vivian sighed, "ha, yes I do." He looked at his rearview mirror to get a look at who's behind him again, but that crew member checking the back of his car stood up straight and gave a thumbs up. 

"Ok you're all set. Nice to meet you, Viv."

"Likewise, Sav," Vivian took his car out of park, "see you 'round." He took one last look at his rearview mirror and then sped off back to his camp.

When he got back to his site, Vivian saw Phil sitting on the bed of the truck, swinging his legs and eating a banana. About half of the stuff they packed was laid out, ready to be set up. "Now I know why you brought me, some of this shit is heavy!" He took a quick sip of the water bottle that was sitting next to him, wincing because it wasn't cold anymore. "So...," he gave in and downed the rest of the warm water, "how did it go?" 

Vivian parked behind their site and stepped out of his car. "It went fine," he took off his helmet and shook out his hair, "I passed." He unzipped his suit and peeled it off the top half of himself. He put his hands on his hips and tipped his head back, relishing the breeze cooling off his sweaty skin. 

He didn't realize his eyes were closed until a loud engine roar made Vivian snap them open. He already knew the car that sound belonged to. Vivian saw the Camaro pull up next to it's custom trailer directly behind his site, which was next to the fanciest and biggest RV he had ever seen. How he didn't notice it all until now, he couldn't tell you.

"Oh ya," Phil hopped down from the truck bed, "They showed up just after you left and I wanted to ask if you knew who that was. They seem to be pretty important with all that fancy stuff."

Vivian turned the other way and peeled the rest of his suit off, "that's Steve Clark." He tried to sound as normal as possible. 

"He looks cool. Is he cool?"

Vivian just shrugged, "ya he is," and put his shirt back on. Phil continued to watch the man called Steve, long enough to watch him step out of his Camaro surrounded by his entourage. Long enough to watch him pull off his helmet and, like something out of a movie scene, watch his long blond hair fall into place then slightly drifting in the breeze. Phil's eyes widened and his mouth hung open just a bit.


	2. Curiosity Killed the Cat, but Satisfaction Brought it Back

"So is he famous?" That was probably Phil's tenth question about Steve. They finally got the canopy set up after a long 20 minutes of fighting to keep it from getting blown away and were sitting under it in the fold up chairs they brought. The one time it really almost did get blown away, Vivian swears the canopy was going to take Phil with it. Had he not grabbed it in time, they were about to have a really bad sequel to Mary Poppins. 

"Well he's no A class celebrity, but he's really good at what he does." Vivian tried to suppress a smile, but he didn't try hard enough.

Phil caught a glimpse and started to play one of his favorite games: Poke the Bear. "Hmmm, is that a smile I see? Do I sense an obsession? Gasp, a crush?!" 

"No!" Vivian is the bear is this situation and Phil is achieving his goal. 

"That's a lie I can see it in your face," Phil was pointing at Vivian now, "see you're still smiling! You know I'm right!"

Vivian was laughing at this point, "I do not have a crush on him! If anything it's you who has the crush," Vivian countered Phil with this statement and Phil retracted his pointing finger. "Don't think I didn't see your mouth hang open earlier. It was open for so long I was worried that a bug would fly in and you'd choke on it!" Check and mate. Vivian wasn't sure if Phil was red from the heat or flustered from the truth that had been spoken, but he sure was quiet now. 

"Wel- I jus- I didn't know what to expect him to look like." Phil is stuttering now which means Vivian had won this round of Poke the Bear.

No matter how Phil could have phrased it though, it still proves Vivian's point. "Haha, ok Phil." He could tease Phil more, but he just leaves it be. All this talk about appearances reminded Vivian of a certain crew member. However, like last time he pushed it to the back of his mind. 

To tell the truth Steve is Vivian's idol. They weren't that many years apart, but that's all the edge that Vivian needed. Whatever Steve could do, Vivian wouldn't be far behind him. 

Somehow as if his ears were burning, Steve was walking over, with his entourage, to the pair right then! Vivian saw him coming out of the corner of his eye, “oh shit." 

Phil was drinking his water when he saw what Vivian was looking at. He inhaled sharply, but the water went down the wrong pipe and now he was hacking, "crap what do we do?" Phil coughed between each and every single word he just said. 

Steve was getting closer so Vivian had to resort to whisper yelling, "be normal?! Be casual?! I don't know just don't be weird!"

Steve and friends were now a few feet from the pair. He eyed Vivian's car, which was parked right next to the canopy, and whistled, "now who drives this beauty?" 

Vivian waved his hand confidently as he stood up out of his chair, "that would be me." 

"What year?" Steve dislodged his arm that was being held onto by one, of the several, blonde bombshells. 

"'72, it’s a work in progress." Vivian made his way over to Steve after he had distanced himself from his entourage. "Vivian Campbell," he went in for a firm handshake hoping Steve wouldn't notice he was already trembling a bit.

"Steve Clark," Vivian now noticed how Phil was attracted to Steve as he got a closer look at him. His hair was perfectly gold and it shimmered in the sunlight. His eyes were light blue and Vivian could already tell he was soft spoken. Kind of reminds Vivian of that one crew memb- son of a bitch he zoned out again. And speaking of Phil, Vivian wanted to see the look on his face, but Steve started talking more about the Ferrari. 

Thank whatever higher power there was that Phil had his sunglasses on to discreetly stare at Steve. He counted 1, 2, 3- 5! 5 girls within Steve's group and a couple of guys he assumed to be the mechanics.

"Ok back to Steve", he thought to himself. He was talking to Vivian about car stuff, which means it was no longer in english to Phil. They seemed to be having a good conversation. They were both making jokes and laughing and using other various words that Phil had no idea about, which made him anxious about wanting to make small talk in the future if the subject was on cars.

He noticed that Vivian was pretty expressive and used a lot of hand gestures, while Steve usually kept his hands in his pockets and looked more reserved. Steve was a little taller than Vivian and looked a bit lanky, too. Phil realized his hair was more gold than blond. He downed the rest of his water, which got warm again, and crushed the empty bottle. He heard Steve and Vivian were getting to a stopping point in their conversation and used it to his advantage to make himself be seen. 

"Hey Viv, I'm getting more water. Do you need any?"

"Nah, I'm good Phil," Vivian was thinking far ahead enough to say Phil's name in front of Steve to speed up the process, "Steve do you want any?" 

Steve looked directly at Phil and gave him a soft expression, "yes please, if you don't mind?"

"No problem! I'll be right back." Phil turned on his heel and walked towards the truck, already feeling the growing warmth on his face. "What was with that expression!? It was so adorable!" He was halfway to the truck, replaying that moment of Steve over and over again in his head. Then the normal thinking turned into overthinking. "Wait how should I give him the bottle? Should I toss it to him? No that's too casual we're not there yet." Phil reached the truck bed and got a water bottle out of the cooler. He took a deep breath and turned around to walk back. "Wait, shit it's warm! What if he doesn't take it??" The unnecessary thoughts were eating away at Phil and his confidence was starting to wear off, but before he knew it he was already upon the racers. 

"Here you are," Phil handed Steve the water bottle, "but it's warm, sorry about that." 

Steve took the water bottle anyways and in him taking it, his hand briefly brushed over Phil's, "that's ok, beggars can't be choosers. But thank you Phil." The hand touch was enough to make Phil melt, but then Steve saying his name made his brain stall. He just smiled and nodded his head as to say 'you're welcome'. He knew talking wouldn't be a good idea, unless he wanted to embarrass himself, and Vivian picked up on Phil's silence and brought up another subject. 

"Have you ever been on the big track, Steve? This'll be my first time on it."

"No, actually I haven't been on it either. Why? Are you nervous?" Steve lightly teased Vivian and sipped at his water.

Vivian chuckled, "Aha, maybe a little bit, but not enough to stop me!"

"Wait nervous about what?" Phil has entered the chat. 

Steve faced Phil and Phil, once again, thanked the universe that he's wearing sunglasses to partially cover his overly happy expression.

"Big Willow has a bit of a reputation…" Steve smiled behind his water bottle and waited for Vivian to explain.

Internally, Vivian was flattered by this little gesture of recognition, "Phil there have been really bad accidents on this track. People have died here." 

"How? I mean I don't know much about racing, but it doesn't look all that deadly." Phil was actually confused, but if it kept Steve talking to him...it was worth it. 

"Oh, I did mean to tell you Vivian!" Steve threw his hands up in remembering, "I have heard through the grapevine to ease up coming out of turn 2." 

Vivian gave a thumbs up, "will do. Thanks for the advice."

"You're welcome. It's been a pleasure talking with you boys," Steve walked backwards towards his girl-heavy entourage, "I'm sure we'll see each other soon and often." The one blonde that held his arm earlier reclaimed her spot as he turned away from the pair.

"Nice talking to 'ya Steve." Vivian gave a short wave and put his hands in his pockets in an attempt to look cool. Not at all trying to copy his idol or anything like that. 

"Bye Steve." Phil crossed one arm over his chest and waved with the other. Steve gave one last look over his shoulder and gave Phil a sweet smile. He then turned to the girl clinging to him, "what shall we do now?" The girl replied, but the group was now out of earshot.

"Hey, uh Phil?" Phil stopped his staring and lazily turned his head to Vivian. "Let's go to that grocery store that we passed on the way here and get some ice for the cooler." Phil nodded yes.

The second that they got in the truck and the doors were closed, Phil threw off his sunglasses and put his face in his hands. 

"You are hopel-"

"I am hopeless!" Phil yelled into his hands and Vivian was cackling. 

Vivian put the truck in drive while wiping the tears from his eyes, "he was nicer than I thought! Though that group of his kinda annoys me." They turned out of the raceway and into the main road.

"Did you see those girls!? I can't amount to that! The one who was basically glued to him, did you see the size of her tits!?" Phil was in full distress mode. 

"What do you mean 'amount to that'? I saw the way he was looking at you. I think you have a chance. This trip is still young!" Phil looked at the clock. God, it was only 5:30 and they still had 2 more full days. Maybe he did have a chance….

They got back to their lot in the west paddock, and noticed they had a neighbor. There were 2 men, a tall one with blond hair and the other one with light brown curls, setting up a tent behind their orange Chevelle. Vivian parked the truck and he and Phil made their way to say hello. 

The tall blond noticed them, "evening gentlemen! I hope you don't mind having neighbors! I'm Joe and this is my partner in crime, Rick."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually like how this turned out. I'm moving so ch 3 might be a while, or it might not idk


	3. Supernova

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is looooong overdue my b i didn't neglect or ignore it i swear

Vivian ties a corner of the tent down, "I'm gonna be honest with you Joe, this is definitely one of the best cars at this entire event." Vivian was in awe. He's seen some pretty spectacular cars, but Joe's was pretty outstanding. 

"Thanks Vivian. It's junk, but it's my junk." Rick snorts and soon everyone is howling with laughter. Joe, Rick, Phil, and Vivian are at each corner of the tent trying to secure it to the ground. Phil and Vivian knew all too well about the notorious wind here and decided to help Joe and Rick to spare them the trouble of fighting with the gusts and possibly losing their tent. 

"You guys are staying for hotdogs and s’mores, right?" Rick finally got his corner down, "we brought too much food."

Phil popped out from behind his finished corner, "no that's perfect. Ha, we brought too many drinks!"

"Got any beer?" Joe was eager. Possibly too eager because Rick just smacked him upside the head.

Phil scoffs, "what a silly question, of course we do!" Vivian took that as a cue to go get the drinks.

"Well don't drink too much." Rick talked through a smirk, "we want you to be able to perceive what'll happen tonight." He wiggled his eyebrows at Joe. 

"What's going on tonight?" Vivian asked with his voice straining from carrying the heavy cooler. Joe ran over to help him out, "it's a surprise! We'll tell you when the sun completely sets and the sky gets dark." Phil and Vivian looked up. The clouds were cotton candy pink and the sun was halfway down. 

Phil helped Rick set up the fire pit while Joe and Vivian got out the wood. Joe got a couple splinters in his arms and hands and Rick helped get them out. They were close, they were cute. It made Vivian green with envy, but he was with friends right now and he didn't want to get lost in his daydreaming about Sav. Phil is doing the exact opposite. All he can think about is Steve. He bites his lip, but covers it with his hand and the other hand holds his beer. 

The wind died down enough for the wood to be lit and the fire to burn. Rick is sitting so close to Joe that they're practically on top of each other. Joe challenges Phil to see who can eat the most hotdogs. 

"Four down, how you doing over there Phil?"

"Bwahaha! Jokes on you I'm halfway done with my fifth."

"Fuck, how!?" Joe was astonished and hurried cooking his fifth.

"A question I still have yet to find the answer to. I have no idea how he eats this much." Vivian was not surprised by Phil's eating capabilities. Not since they first met when Phil ate eight tacos in one sitting. 

"Don't eat too much! Leave room for s'mores!" Rick already had the marshmallows, chocolate, and the graham crackers in his lap.

"Oh you're right! I was so focused on winning that I completely forgot." Phil stuck his tongue out at Joe. 

Joe finished his last hotdog, threw his hands up, and then crossed them, "fine, I admit defeat. What's his prize?" 

Vivian dramatically slapped a graham cracker on a freshly made s'more, "Phil wins the first taste." 

"Why thank you, however I must relinquish it to Joe because I have to go to the bathroom." Phil stood up, bowed, and walked to the brick building across the way.

"How gracious of you," Joe yelled, "so kind! So generous!"

Phil turned around and flipped Joe the bird. Joe gave him one back as he bit into the s'more. He turned himself back around and walked into one of the 4 empty stalls.

The entire building that was the bathroom was made entirely of brick, aside from the stall doors and the one window in each stall, and was painted in white and green. There was only one sink and it was kind of tucked away so that if you were facing the bathroom you wouldn't be able to see it.

Phil could smell tobacco seeping in through the window and wondering who could possibly be smoking at this time of night. When he finished and washed his hands and walked around the corner-

"Oof sorr- Steve!" Steve was the one smoking and Phil ran right into him. 

"I thought I heard you guys out here." He took a long puff and threw the cigarette butt in one of the many metal trash cans that were peppered around the lot. He turned his attention to Phil, "so whatcha doin'?"

Phil was flustered, "uh, just sitting around a fire. Makin' s'mores." Is it possible for him to make a compound sentence at least? "Would you like to join us?" Good enough.

"That sounds nice." Steve's posture loosened up. Phil waved 'come on' and led the way.

They walked a few feet in silence and Phil felt inclined to break more ice, "So, where are your friends?"

"Friends…" Steve looked confused, "oh you mean that group of mine? They went to their hotel. It's just me in the RV."

Phil is going to dismiss that first part for now, "just you in that big thing!?" 

"Yep. It's actually really nice. I can show you later, if you want?" 

Phil got giddy, "yes! Uh, sure I'd love to." 

Little did Phil know that Steve looked forward to just being around him again. He felt comfortable when he was with him.

"Hiiii Steeebe," Vivian yelled with a mouthful of a s'more and waved. After their conversation earlier, he didn't feel all that nervous around Steve anymore. He was still his idol, but Vivian saw him more of an actual person instead of just some big name.

Steve waved back to Vivian and saw Joe, who was about to bite into a s'more. He recognized Steve and now he's frozen, mid bite. Phil took a step behind Steve and mouthed 'I know right' to Joe, both of them beaming at him for different reasons. 

"Hello." Steve gave a little wave.

"Oh! Let me get you a chair." Phil wanted to distract himself and not look so obvious. 

Phil jogged to the truck and pulled a fold away chair out of the bed. He brought it back, even unfolded it for Steve, and set it down in between his own chair and Joe's. Steve introduced himself to Joe and Rick and took his seat, sliding it just a bit closer to Phil.

Vivian was the only one who noticed because he's the only one without someone to keep his attention like the others do. Not that he's complaining! Just envious still. 

"Oh, it's time now! Joe put out the fire." Rick piped up suddenly and danced in his chair. 

Joe dumped a bucket of water on the fire which spread ash everywhere and caused a few coughing fits. They didn't realize how dark it actually was without the fire, Joe missed his chair and landed on the rocky dirt.

"Ow! Ok, close your eyes for a few minutes to let them adjust." He reclaimed his seat next to Rick and closed his eyes. The fire used to be the white noise in the background and now without it, it was pretty quiet. A few faint yips and barks from the coyotes, that have finally come out of their daytime hiding spots, filled the quiet void, if only partly. 

Steve spoke up, "so uh, what’s going on and how much longer?"

"Not much," Rick's voice came from some direction.

Phil got fidgety, "how about now?"

"Thirty seconds."

"Joe, you were counting?" 

"No I'm just guessing, Vivian," Joe snickered. 

"Ok….now!" 

All five of them opened their eyes and looked at each other for just a second, exploring the adjustment, until Rick and Joe pointed up. They were just a bunch of guys fueling their adrenaline addictions and spending more money on it than they should. Expecting a good time, but not something like they were seeing right now. 

The full moon lit up the entire terrain and it was so close, it looked like you could throw a rock at it! It wasn't white, definitely because of the smog, it was more of a washed out cream color. All the craters and spots were in high definition. They saw the milky way. Thousands of different colored stars glittered across the night sky, all the way down to the mountainous horizon. 

"Surprise! Rick and I found out we were having a supermoon tonight! By the looks on your faces, I'm gonna bet you've never seen one before." He was right, mouths were open and eyes were full of stars, pun intended. 

"Is that star….," Steve pointed up northwest, "moving?" All heads turned to the direction pointed. 

"You found a satellite," Rick beamed. "It's hard to see them in the city, but there's no light pollution here!" 

Vivian pointed abruptly, "I just saw a shooting star!"

"I've seen five!" 

"Phil, no you have not! I've only seen like, two." Everything had to be a competition with Joe. 

"Yes I did," funny how the two oldest of them were also the most childish, "and I made a wish on all of them." The smug look on his face proved it. 

"Well aren't you cheesy, whaddya' wish for?" Vivian learned forward in his seat, expecting material to tease about. 

"Well, if I told you, then they wouldn't come true." He folded his arms and crossed a leg over the other. 

His cheesiness was brushed off by the others as Joe told what he would wish for if he did that sort of thing. Phil tried to tune in, but Steve was looking right at him like he needed to say something and it caught his eye. Ok not like that, he just saw him in his peripheral vision.... Fine, he also wanted to look at him, "did you need something?"

Apparently he caught Steve staring. He's startled, "I! Yes, um I was just wondering if you're sentimental."

"I am, how did you know?"

"I'm usually pretty good at reading people." 

"Alright, what else can you tell about me?"

Steve, jokingly, leaned sideways in his seat to get a closer look at Phil, but he got unbalanced and started to fall. On instinct, Phil went to stop his fall, but he went about it at the wrong angle and fell, too. They landed in a tangled, blond heap on the ground. 

"Oof!" "Oh lord."

"You alright over there, guys?" The discussion with the other three was halted as they checked on the other two, while being mindful not to lean too far.

"Yep, I'm good." "Dandy," the boys attempted to sit up. Phil managed to be able to sit up, but Steve ended up on all fours, with a hand in between Phil's knees. 

"You good, Steve?" He helps him up and Steve put a hand on his shoulder, but he hisses at the contact.

"Ya, but I scraped my hand a little."

"Where? Let me feel-"

"Ow!"

"Oohh I felt a rock. Hey Viv, can you toss me a water?" The moon made it bright, but maybe it wasn't the best idea to throw something that has a little weight to it at night. However, Vivian was mindful of this, thank goodness, and gently tossed it so it'd hit the ground and roll to Phil's feet. He grabbed it and unscrewed the top, taking Steve's hand in his gently. "This'll probably sting a little," he gingerly poured water on Steve's hand while trying to dislodge the rock out of the broken skin with his thumb. There were actually a few rocks stuck in his hand, but Phil got them all out and downed the rest of the water, "there we go!"

"Thank you, that's much better, but my hand still stings a little. Do you think a kiss will make it better?"

This bastard was smooth, smooth and bold, causing an unexpecting Phil to stammer through his words, "w-w-well I m-m-mean s-sure." He took a deep breath, lifted Steve's hand up to his face, and kissed his palm. Phil could feel the calluses from working on his car or just having a monster grip on the steering wheel. "How does that feel?"

"Hmmm good, but my wrist is sore, too."

"I can fix that." Phil's lips glided lower to his wrist and Steve used his free-ish hand to cup the side of his face. He lingered there for just a second longer and held Steve’s hand to his face, “are you all better now?”

“Yes I think so, but what about you? Is there any place that hurts and needs attention?’’ 

Phil now understood where this was headed, “m-my face….”

Steve cupped his other hand on Phil’s cheek, “which part?”

Phil’s heart was jackhammering in his chest and the blood rushed up to his face. Steve felt the growing warmth and drew circles with his thumbs, patiently waiting for a response. Swallowing hard, Phil opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He knew exactly what he wanted, what Steve wanted, but he just couldn’t say it. He hasn’t gotten this lucky in a while, making him think it was too good to be true, making him nervous that he’ll mess it up. So to not make a fool of himself, he simply pointed to his mouth, “here.” Steve just smiled and closed the gap.

He felt cool up against Phil’s flushed face, a way they complement each other Phil supposes. They kept their eyes open at first, just to study each other up close: Steve taking note of Phil’s long lashes and Phil seeing that Steve’s hair glimmers gold still, even at night. When at last they submitted to the bliss and closed their eyes and deepened the kiss, there were still stars behind their lids, radiating and pulsing to the same beat of their hearts. They felt like they were the center of it all: the nebulas, space clouds, and galaxies. Comets of ice and solar flares lit them up, enveloping them in an icy hot mix of their tastes. Steve tasted like that tobacco he was smoking earlier while he thought Phil tasted sweet, and not because of the s’mores. 

They broke away for air, even though they didn’t want to just yet. They shared a laugh, suddenly shy and realizing what they did and how they wished it would have happened sooner. Blue meets blue as they gaze into each other’s eyes, searching for more space to explore. Like there was no one else there, all they could see, hear, feel was each other. One could say that they were possibly moving a little fast, but Phil has done worse in less time than the day he’s known Steve and there’s no doubt in his mind that Steve hasn’t done the same. They wanted to….continue, but they needed more privacy than what they currently had and it was too late in the night. Steve stood up and brushed himself off of dust and rocks, extending both hands to help Phil up, “hey uh, it’s late and we both should probably get some sleep.”

“I- yes. Um, you’re right.” Phil was still processing what just happened. 

“Are ya' headed out, Steve?"

"Mmhmm, we have a driver's meeting at eight."

"Oh shit! Completely slipped my mind.” Joe sprang up and immediately started cleaning up, with Vivian not too far behind him. 

“Goodnight guys, see you bright and early,” Steve shouted to the other three and waved. “See you tomorrow, Phil,” he said quietly to Phil. Steve took his hand and gave it a squeeze before he loosened his grip. 

“Goodnight, Steve.” Phil let his hand slip away and watched him walk all the way to his RV before helping the others pack it in for the night.

Oh Phil felt so warm and fuzzy, not the slightest bit bothered that he was having to sleep in the truck. He felt so tranquil that he felt like he was asleep and dreaming already.

“So, you had a good night, huh?”

“Mmhmm.”

“And we still have two whole days left.”

“Two days….” Phil rolled onto his side and drifted quickly, glad that one of his wishes came true so fast.

“Yep,” Vivian stared off to the stars, hopeful to get lucky, too. “Two days.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -if you want a more personal view of this place and you don't wanna use google, go to Eddie Van Halen's instagram and scroll all the way down to the post of him racing with Alex (the quality is eh but it's Ed and Al so yay)  
> -highly recommend stargazing in a random place far from civilization  
> -this one is gonna be on the back burner for a little bit, intentionally this time. I do have plans for ch 4 but it'll def be a while


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